Clinical negligence,complaints and compensation
The suggestion of speeding up the way complaints are handled by the NHS by introducing financial compensation have been rejected by a medical indemnity organisation. This year has seen a lot of discussion in parliament and the medical seniority regarding the issue of medical negligence, no win no fee lawyers and the credibility of some of the cases being launched against the NHS service.
The response from the Medical Protection Society is that while certain circumstances should allow for financial reimbursement, they are “firmly opposed to bringing compensation more generally into the complaints procedure”. One of the main reasons for the opposition to such a move is the threat it poses to the medical institution as a whole.
Rather than the complaints system being used as a medium from which development and progress can be made which is ultimately its purpose, the introduction of potential financial gain will force a shift the focus away from these ends; “towards a more limited and cautious response”.
The Medical Protection Society supports that a reimbursement of expenses incurred in specific cases where it is clear that a patient has paid for a treatment that they were entitled to and should have received via the NHS but a failing on either the part of the treating doctor, trust or healthcare organisation led to the patient’s direct financial loss.
They stress that “allowing financial compensation for complaints will lead to blurring of the separate and distinct functions of the complaints and clinical negligence systems”.
Updated on 25/08/2008